The right to refuse

[swl]

Can a businessman, a shopkeeper, hotel owner etc refuse to provide a service without giving a reason?

[Buenchico]

The simple answer to your question is 'Yes'.

A shopkeeper can, for example, refuse to sell you something without telling you why. He can also decide to charge you 100 times the cost that all his other customers pay; again, he doesn't have to tell you why.

The only time when such actions would be illegal would be where the reasons (whether stated or not) breached anti-discrimination legislation, e.g. on the grounds of the customer's race.

Chris

[joko]

they are service providers by choice, they are there to help you but they are not legally obliged to do so.

[swl]

Interesting Chris.

So if a hotelier for example just said no to a black person without giving a reason, the black person could claim discrimination. But if it was a white person and not disabled, female or gay, they could not claim discrimination?

[Oneeyedvic]

They could claim discrimination, but proving it is different

[Buenchico]

Thanks for the response, swl.

As Oneeyeevic states, it's illegal to discriminate on certain grounds but proving it is another matter. The hotelier might, for example, say 'Yes, I discriminated against that black guy but my discrimination wasn't based on any illegal criteria. It's just that I always refuse to accept bookings from people with a public school accent". That would be perfectly legal.

Chris

[swl]

Thanks very much chaps. I appreciate the concise answers.

[swl]

Supplementary -

Is discrimination a civil or criminal offence? Would the police be called if someone claimed to be being discriminated against?

[Buenchico]

It's a civil matter. Cases of (alleged) discrimination, other than those related to employment, are heard before the county courts:
http://www.cre.gov.uk/legal/complaint.html

If the police were asked to attend an incident where racial discrimination was alleged, they might choose to do so in order to prevent a possible breach of the peace. If they did attend, it's likely that the officers would remind the service provider of the provisions of the the law. However, there is no actual obligation upon the police to attend an incident or to advise the service provider about the law. Further, neither the police nor the Crown Prosecution Service can take any direct action in relation to allegations of racial discrimination.

It's extremely difficult to prove an allegation of racial discrimination based upon a single incident. It's not illegal to refuse to serve a black man. It's only illegal to refuse to serve a man because he is black. If the service provider declines to give a reason for refusing service, proving discrimination only really becomes possible if his reasons become clear through repeated breaches of the legislation.

Chris